U.S. Department of the Treasury has imposed sanctions on the Cyprus-based company Transadria and the Russian-flagged vessel Marlin.
According to a statement on the website of the US department, the restrictions are introduced on the basis of the Protecting Europe’s Energy Security Act (PEESA) of 2019 and the decree US president Joe Biden signed in August. The latter authorizes Washington to introduce sanctions with regard to some of Russian pipelines, which are intended for export supplies.
On Monday, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said that the Department of State had submitted a report to Congress pursuant to the Protecting Europe’s Energy Security Act of 2019 (PEESA) for a possible introduction of sanctions against Nord Stream 2.
The report lists two vessels and one Russia-linked entity, Transadria Ltd., involved in the Nord Stream 2 pipeline. Transadria Ltd. will be sanctioned under PEESA, and its vessel, the Marlin, will be identified as blocked property, he said.
Blinken did not specify the name of the second vessel mentioned in the report, which has not been published. According to Bloomberg, this is the Blue Ship. Bloomberg said, citing a US official, that the other vessel, "known as Blue Ship, was cited for its work on the almost-complete pipeline but not sanctioned because it belongs to an entity affiliated with the German government." According to Bloomberg, Transadria Ltd. is a Cyprus-based entity "believed to be a Russian shell company."
On Tuesday, the Kremlin fired back at possible new sanctions from Washington against Nord Stream 2 branding them illegal and wrong, especially in light of the attempts at re-establishing the previously lost dialogue between both countries.
